old bike cadavers

[Arnold Layne]

Asked a friend if he had any old bikes and he came up with these two. Anybody know the vintage or manufacturer? The blue one has a little handle and a pulley for a cable, what was it for? The black one is a couple inches shorter and has a lugged frame.

 

[Arnold Layne]

And the black one.

 

[bairdco]

the blue one looks like a 1930's Colson Flyer. Schwinn and Colson both used a "sweetheart" sprocket design. the lever and pulley were for a 2 speed rear hub.

it's a pretty rare bike.

here's mine:

http://motorbicycling.com/f38/1930s-colson-motor-bike-my-new-14764.html

 

[bairdco]

the smaller one also looks like a Colson, or maybe a Fairy, which was the company Colson became.

the larger one originally had 28" wheels, as did mine, and they were pretty skinny. you can get away with 26"ers no problem, but a standard 2.125 cruiser tire may not fit in the rear.

awesome bikes. let me know if you want to get rid of one...

 

[timboellner]

I found this bike on e-bay which looks like a good match.
Vintage Schwinn Straight Bar Skip Link Pre War B37897 | eBay
TiM

 

[Arnold Layne]

That Ebay Schwinn has more curve in the frame than these two.